XIV. A MIDSUMMER DAY'S DREAM
XV. SYMBOLS
XVI. OPTIMISM
XVII. JOY
XVIII. THE LOVE OF GOD
EPILOGUE






I

THE SCENE





Yes, of course it is an experiment! But it is made in corpore vili.
It is not irreparable, and there is no reason, more's the pity, why
I should not please myself. I will ask--it is a rhetorical question
which needs no answer--what is a hapless bachelor to do, who is
professionally occupied and tied down in a certain place for just
half the year? What is he to do with the other half? I cannot live
on in my college rooms, and I am not compelled to do so for
economy. I have near relations and many friends, at whose houses I
should be made welcome. But I cannot be like the wandering dove,
who found no repose. I have a great love of my independence and my